By Al S. Mendoza

 

THE filing of the certificate of candidacy is on, kicking off on October 1 and ending on October 8.

Hey, rejoice! The circus is in town!

A candidate may either withdraw or be substituted on or before November 15, 2021.

The Filipino voter will elect the president down to the town councilor on May 9, 2022.

Let’s zero in on the presidential derby.

As we go to press, Manny Pacquiao, Isko Moreno and Ping Lacson have declared their readiness to run for president.

Pacquiao has just retired from boxing and is an incumbent senator.

Moreno is Manila mayor and is being derisively called the president in a hurry.

Lacson is the Senate’s chief graft-buster, a model for principled public service who remains the only senator who rejects a pork barrel perk for the longest time.

Widely believed as joining the presidential fray are Leni Robredo and Sara Duterte.  Possibly, Bongbong Marcos, too.

Robredo, the widow and incumbent vice president from Naga City, is deemed the legitimate opposition against an administration-backed bet.

Sara, the President’s daughter and Davao City mayor, is riding the crest of topping virtually all surveys on a voter’s presidential preference in next year’s polls.

And Bongbong deludes himself consistently as being destined to continue the “legacy” of his dictator father—the “legacy” of a 14-year reign of Martial Law terror that killed thousands of nationalists and rapaciously looted the nation’s coffers greedily deposited in millions of dollar accounts in numerous Swiss banks.

If he finally takes a shot at the Palace, our voters will be truly tested: Will they fall for another folly?

Those who forget the past are deemed to repeat it, goes the saying.

The callous kid had already been rebuked by the Filipino people with the vice presidential loss he suffered at the hands of Robredo in 2016.

Petitioning stubbornly to reverse Robredo’s convincing victory, Bongbong’s case was thrown out the window three times by the Supreme Court.

Why the gall then for him to get a stab at the highest post of the land—if he should at all—when the Filipino vote rejected his vice presidential try six years back?

Some guys are just that thick-skinned.

As for Pacquiao, will he really give it a shot—gun for the presidency, that is?

All indications seem to point to that.

Why would he retire from boxing if he wouldn’t go all out for next year’s elections?

Hasn’t he been waiting for this chance all this time, dying to put closure to a much-desired happy ending to a magical journey worthy of a Hollywood script?

The signs of a fairytale finish are just that palpable.

But still, if I were Pacquiao, I’d think twice before I finally go for it.

The presidency is a dream so overwhelmingly massive it definitely looks like Ninoy Aquino’s unreachable star.

Let’s enjoy the show while it lasts.

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